James A. King (1852-1924)
'James A. King '(1852 - November 18, 1924) was a farmer in West Hartford and employed as watchman at Reservoir No. 1. King was born in 1852 in West Hartford, Connecticut to Henry A. King and Roxanna Freeman Spencer. He was educated in the West Hartford and Hartford schools and was engaged in farming for many years, going into business with his father at an early age. He was one of five children, one of his sisters being alive after his death in 1924, Mrs. Fannie Barnhart of Los Angeles, California. In his later years, he made his home at 944 Farmington Avenue, the home of Mrs. Charles E. Flagg, where he died on November 18, 1924. Family King married Eva Steele, the sister of Wilbur S. Steele. The couple had no children. Real Estate * King inherited part of his father's estate on South Main Street and the future Boulevard in March 1890. * King was deeded the Bartholomew estate, formerly the Chester Colton farm, on South Main Street on February 9, 1895. He passed it to Frederick C. Rockwell in the early stage of his Boulevard vision. * Upon the death of his brother, Henry F. King on April 1, 1896, his inherited piece of his father's estate was passed to King, then to Frederick C. Rockwell for his Boulevard extension west of South Main Street. * F. W. Bruce and family of Hartford moved into his remodeled tenement (August 1897); W. D. Freer (1898); C. G. Campbell from Fairview Street (April 1899); Wilbert S. Palmer (April 1903); Misses Pease of Bloomfield (June 1903); George W. Tunis (1911); Walter B. Spencer (October 1911); Frank E. Gaines from 982 Farmington Avenue (December 1911); George Storrs Fisher (July 1913) * In the summer of 1916, after the death of his wife, he lived at the Edward Selden place on Buena Vista, employed on the detour road on Buena Vista while Farmington Avenue was being improved upon by the state. Land Use and Business * After a lightning strike burned down his barn on South Main Street and killed eight cows on June 17, 1892, King built another barn by the end of the summer. * King moved the old Colton house across South Main Street on the Boulevard, built by Abijah Colton in 1787, in March 1897. * He built a new house for himself at the southwest corner of South Main Street and the Boulevard by September 1, 1898. * King was employed in 1918 as watchman at Reservoir No. 1 and spent some time in California. Accidents * Burglars broke into his home, as well as others on South Main Street, on December 5, 1900. Burglars also broke into his home on August 16, 1908. Personal * In August 1909, King entertained his brother, John T. King of Newark, New Jersey, a native of town. * The King couple spent the first half of 1912 in Dorchester, Boston, returning from an automobile trip by July 1912. * King spent time in Canada in June 1913 for a large construction contract. * In December 1920, King went to Florida for the winter.